Bonds that Heal the Wound
by Sassy Little Ms. Muffet
Summary: "Killing a bear won't do you any good." Denahi tells her. "Says the boy that went after a bear after thinking it took his brother's life..." she walks past him and hurries into the dark, cold wilderness.
1. Chapter 1

The bright gleam of morning sunlight peers through an opening in Haley's hut. Her room lights up making the paintings of animals noticeable on the tan cloth walls. She barely opens her violet eyes before shutting them again. The sun's way too bright, and she's not used to the light yet. She finally forces her eyes open, but it's barely a squint She squints as she looks around the room. Once her eyes adjust, she completely opens her eyes.

"Ugh, morning..." Haley moans softly to herself. She rubs her eyes, stands up, and stretches. She straightens out her brown animal-skin night gown and walks over to a wooden desk that Denahi helped her build a few weeks ago. Haley picks up one of her brushes and combs out the knots in her wavy, dark brown hair. She's never trusted anyone with her hair, so she grew it out. It's now down to her hips. She dresses into her warm, animal skin, clothes. She had dyes made so when the clothes where created, she could dye them. The clothes Haley's wearing now are a purple top with black pants and brown boots.

"Haley?" she hears Denahi. Haley turns to seem him peeking into her hut.

"Ever heard of privacy?" She asks, quite annoyed.

"Sorry, it just that Tanana's back...with your totem." He says hesitantly as if he knows how she's going to react, and it's a possibility he may be right. She stands there like a stone statue. Her face scrunched up in disgust, and is turned away from him.

"M-my totem?" Haley stutters. She's been dreading this day since...well, one of her friends left.

"Yes. You should go out and get your tribal chores done before the ceremony." Denahi leaves as fast as he came, leaving Haley alone in her hut. 18 years she's been alone and she still hates it. Maybe her life would be happier if Kenai hadn't left. They've been buddies for as long as she can remember, but now he's gone. He left her in the dust to go live with a bunch of idiotic bears! Her, one of his best friends, and he ditches her for some filthy animals! It makes Haley sick just thinking about it!

Haley snaps out of her thought and grabs her spear and a basket. She's got some hunting to do before her ceremony! She quickly runs out of the hut and down the path that leads to the evergreen forest.

Haley throws her spear into the crystal clear waters of the pond. She catches three fish at a time and puts the little slippery demons into the basket she brought with her. She fills the basket up and hurries down the muddy path back to the village. The sun's so bright! She can barely keep her eyes open.

"Raaaawwwwrrrr!" A voice screams. Someone swings down from a tree and hangs upside down on a branch. The person's face is literally an inch away from Haley's.

The person giggles, "Morning, Haley!"

Haley sighs in relief, "Oh, Leita, it's only you!"

She giggles, "Yep! What're you doing?"

"Getting food for the tribe, duh!" Haley says a little meaner than she had intended.

"No need to be all sassy." Leita pouts.

Haley sighs, "Sorry, it's that Tanana's finally back with my totem."

"Seriously?" She asks excitedly. Haley nods and continues to walk.

"Oh c'mon Haley, what's so bad about getting your totem?" She calls after her. Haley pauses and looks down.

"You know I'm afraid. Afraid of getting that certain totem. People are always saying how that totem was meant for Kenai and me!" she says softly.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." Leita apologizes. She flips down onto the ground from her branch. She fixes her messy, long, dirty blonde hair, walks over, and places her flawless tan hand on Haley's shoulder.

"What ever you get, even if it is the bear, the spirits know what they're doing. You just have to cope with it." Her icy blue eyes meet Haley's violet ones. She smiles and Haley smiles back. She couldn't ask for a better best friend.

"Need some help with all that fish?" she asks. She can be such a kiss up sometimes! Whenever Haley's in a bad mood, she always knows how to get her going again.

"Sure, thanks Leits." Leits is Haley's nickname for her. Leita nods and puts some of the fish from Haley's basket into her tan, saber skin satchel. Luckily, she has nothing in there or her bag would've been a mess!

They smile at one another and hurry back to the village.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time they arrive back at the village, everyone's buzzing about and squawking about how Tanana's back. Oh, come on! Give the woman a break! They do this every time she arrives from a trip to speak with the spirits. Although she's always kind and stuff, she must be at least somewhat annoyed by the huge commotion they make when she arrives.

"Do they really have to make such a big deal about her arrival?" Haley mumbles to Leita.

"Well she is the most important part of our tribe Haley-" Leita doesn't get to finish.

"She's still a normal person just like the rest of us even though she has a connection with the spirits that no one else has." Haley says.  
"You ready for your ceremony, Haley?" Tanana asks her from behind.

"Tanana!" Haley screams in shock and accidentally throws her basket of fish in the air. She quickly runs and catches the basket, nothing falling out. She sighs in relief.

"Sorry, sweetheart. Did I frighten you?" Tanana asks, chuckling.

"N-no! Of course not!" Haley gets up quickly, chuckling sheepishly.

"I hope you're excited because you got a good one!" Tanana says excitedly. Haley gulps. Those are the exact words she had said to Kenai when he got his totem.  
Tanana gives a small wave and walks away.

Haley sighs and looks to the ground, "Now I'm positive that I got that totem..."

"So what? I actually think getting the same totem as Kenai would be cool!" Leita says fan-girling a bit. Leita has had a small crush on Kenai since she and her family joined the village when she was 12 years old.

Haley playfully rolls her eyes and walks off to put the fish away in a tree.

"What?" Leita asks as she follows her.

* * *

Within an hour, everyone in the village is at the ceremonial den in a rocky mountain that's located near the outskirts of the village. All totem ceremonies and other special occasions are held here. Haley casually walks to the ceremony. She arrives just as the ceremony begins which upsets some of the elders.

"How rude of her to arrive so late to her own ceremony!" One of the elders whispers to her other elderly friend.

Haley scowls. It's her ceremony! She can arrive when ever she wants! She doesn't want to be here anyways. She already knows what she's going to get, why come?

"Haley." Tanana says, snapping Haley out of her angry thought. Haley stands up, walks over, and sits in front of Tanana. Her legs are crossed Indian style and she has an emotionless expression on her face.

"Nervous?" Tanana asks her as she puts the ceremonial paint on Haley's face.

"Hardly. I just want to get this done and over with." Haley says sharply, yet quietly.

"Don't be so sour! You're going to love it!" Tanana whispers to Haley, enthusiastically. Haley rolls her eyes and then focuses her gaze back onto the sha-woman.

"Haley, I have been to the mountains where the lights touch the Earth, and the spirits have revealed to me, your totem." Tanana says.

"Whoa. Deja Vu." Haley thinks to herself.

"To become a woman," Tanana continues, "Your actions must be guided by one thing! Haley, your totem is..."

Tanana reaches behind her and pulls out a cloth and secretly opens it. She gently thrusts it in front of Haley to reveal the totem she has gotten, "Love!"

"How did I know?" Haley moans softly to herself, staring down at the little stone carving.

"Love is what connects all of us living things." Tanana says, clasping her hands together happily. Haley isn't paying the slightest bit attention to Tanana. She's just holding her totem in her hand, and observing it. She had known from the very beginning that she was going to get this totem, but now she's suddenly shocked.  
After the ceremony concludes, Haley takes a walk down by the outskirts of the village. She's still twirling and observing her totem.

"Haley! Wait up!" A chirpy voice calls from behind Haley. Haley turns around to see a smiling Leita heading towards her.

"Leita! Slow down!" Haley yells. Before Haley can do or say anything else, Leita collides with Haley, sending them both to the ground. Both of them moan as they sit up and rub their heads.

"I told you to slow down." Haley says calmly.

"I tried, but I kinda lost control." Leita chuckles sheepishly. Haley shakes her head in disappointment and stands up.

"I can't believe you got the Bear of Love! I'm so jealous!" Leita chirps as she embraces Haley in a happy hug.

"It's not as cool as you think. It's pretty lame if you ask me." Haley shrugs her shoulders as a way of showing that she doesn't care for the totem.

"Are you kidding?" Leita asks in shock, "You have the famous Bear of Love, and all I got was the Otter of Enthusiasm." Leita is about 6 months older than Haley so she's already gotten hers.

"To tell you the truth, I would've rather gotten that." Haley stares into Leita's eyes. Leita finally realizes that she's actually serious about everything she's saying.

"So you really didn't want to get that totem?" Leita asks softly.

Haley shakes her head, "That's what I've been trying to tell you this whole time. In my perspective, bears are heartless. They take what they want and think that they don't have to give anything in return. Like they took Kenai, they lure their prey in with kindness and keep it forever!" The words "like Kenai" linger in the back of her mind. She truly believes that those bears had taken Kenai for their own.

"Haley, you know that's not true. Kenai decided to live with the bears because of a decision he made by himself. The bears hadn't really done anything except show him kindness when he had been transformed." Leita says softly, yet very stern.

Haley scoffs, "Sure." Haley walks off, but Leita continues to follow.

"Don't even turn your back on me, Haley!" Leita says strictly.

"Watch me." Haley says coldly. Once more, Haley turns away from her, but gasps at the sight of the tree she had put the basket of fish in.

"T-the fish..." Leita stutters in horror.

"And you thought that bears were kind creatures! Ha! Don't make me laugh." Haley grabs a spear from the nearby weapon hut, and runs into the forest.


	3. Chapter 3

"Haley!" Leita calls after Haley. Leita knows that Haley will only be getting herself killed by going after the bear that took the fish. Leita grabs a spear from the same weapon hut, and follows Haley's tracks.

* * *

Haley follows a path of bear tracks that she had found by the tree. Her instincts tell her to stay on her toes. She moves quickly and often looks around to be sure no one's following her. No one is around. Well, at least she thinks that. Leita is on her way to stop Haley at this very moment. Haley's instincts then tell her to keep moving. Haley runs quickly and stealthily. If you were to be in the area, you probably won't even hear her. As she runs, she trips over a stone and tumbles down a dirt hill. She lands in a pile of leaves with a loud crunch. A low grunt is heard no more than 10 feet behind Haley. As quietly as she can, Haley turns onto her stomach and peeks behind a small hedge. There, right in front of her eyes is the bear She's been waiting for. The bear's coat is a mocha brown with a blotch of tan covering its right forepaw. It's beady black eyes can tell you your future if you were to bother it, in only one word: death.

Haley glares with an evil smile and whispers, "I have found my prey." Haley picks up her spear and holds it close. She feels around for a rock, not taking her eyes off of her prize. She finally finds an adequate rock and throws it at the bears head. The rock lands right on the center of the bear's cranium. The bear shakes its head as it tries making true pain go away. It looks in Haley's direction and gives an fierce roar. Haley gulps and quickly gets up. She grabs her spear and runs off. The bear follows and chases her to an icy cliff. Haley has no choice but to fight it. Haley is overjoyed that she finally gets to fight her nemesis.

Leita is following Haley's tracks when she hears the scream of a female. She looks up to see Haley hanging onto the edge of a ledge.

"Haley!" She gasps. With her spear at grip, Leita runs up to the cliff to help her friend. Leita soon finds herself at the top off the cliff and peers over the edge to see Haley hanging on for dear life.

"Haley!" Leita yells as she holds out her hand for Haley to grab. Haley grabs her hand and gets pulled up.

"You have to leave!" Haley says in fear.

"What?" Leita asks out of breath.

"The bear!" Haley yells , seeing the bear right behind Leita. Leita screams and pulls her and Haley both to their feet. The bear lifts itself onto its hindpaws and roars at the girls. Suddenly, a rock hits the side of the bear's head. Both girls to see Denahi.

"Denahi!" Leita yells in joy.

"What are you doing here?" Haley asks in surprise.

"What does it look like? I'm trying to save you!" Denahi says as he continues to get the bear's attention. The bear begins to make its way over Denahi. Denahi readies his spear as the bear begins to charge at him. Denahi whacks, pokes, and scratches the bear as it attacks him. The girls join the fight.

"What are you doing?" Denahi yells.

"We're not letting you fight this thing alone!" Leita and Haley yell at once.

"You're only going to get yourselves killed!" He shouts back.

"So will you if we leave you here alone with it!" Haley yells as she dodges one of the bear's swipes. The three of them continue fighting the furry beast. With one large swipe, the bear knocks all of them to the ground. All three are in pain, but Leita is the only one that has enough energy into stand. She knows that the only way. To save her friends is by sacrificing herself. She grabs her spear and lunges at the bear. The bear falls and slides across the icy cliff. Leita runs up to it with her spear ready to stab it, but it stands and hits her across her chest as hard it can. A large , now extremely bloody, slash mark is created and the force of the blow is so strong that it sends her across the icy terrain and straight into the now awake and standing Denahi and Haley. The bear's hit, though, backfired against itself and then slips and falls backwards into the icy river below. The bear survives the fall, though, and climbs out onto the river bank. It runs off into the woods.

Haley sits on her knees and looks over the bloody and unconscious Leita with a look of horror wiped across her face. Leita's tan skin and dirty blonde hair is stained red from the blood.

"We have to get her back to the village." Denahi says as he scoops Leita up in his arms. Haley nods and they head back.

When they arrive back at the village, Tanana quickly cleans her up and bandages her wounds.

"Will she be okay?" Haley asks with a great deal of fear in her voice.

"She's alive, but I'm afraid that she's lost so much blood that she's fallen into a coma." Tanana says sadly. Tears well up in Haley's eyes and she leaves the infirmary tent. Her tears are both of sadness and anger. She goes back to her hut and packs a small satchel off daggers, fruits, water, and a comb. She puts on a thick torso, puts on her satchel, and grabs her spear once more. She quietly leaves the tent, but gets caught leaving by Denahi.

"You're going after the bear, aren't you?" He asks.

"I have to. Look what it's done to Leita!" Haley exclaims.

"It's not the bear's fault!" Denahi says. By the tone in his voice, Haley knows that he's blaming her.

"If you hadn't gone after it, you two wouldn't have to have fought it. Leita risked her own life to save you." Denahi says. His words sting her, but she continues to feel the hate towards the bear.

"Killing that bear won't do you any good." Denahi tells her.

"Says the boy that went after a bear after thinking it took his brother's life..." she walks past him and hurries into the dark, cold wilderness.


	4. Chapter 4

Haley's been walking all night. She had found the tracks sometimes in the night and has been following them ever since. Since she had left the village the night before, she's been wearing her angry face. Only this angry face is like no other. This face face is full of rage and the urge for revenge. She keeps her spear tight in her right hand. From how tightly she's gripping her palm, her knuckles have turned a bright red and her palm is a ghastly white. Her usually soft violet eyes are now a cold violet that seems to just stare right into one's soul. It's quite frightening actually. Never in her life has she been so angered before, until now. She plays her revenge plan through her mind over and over again so she doesn't forget it. First, she'll sneak up behind the bear. Next, she'll stab and kill the bear. Finally, she'll skin the bear and use it's fur as a blanket. Haley chuckles to herself thinking of how beautiful this revenge plan is.

"Don't you worry, Leita. I'll make sure that your wounds will mean something, and not just a reminder of all of the pain you had gone through." Haley mutters to herself as she hurries through the woods.

After hours of walking, she finds herself by a waterfall. Realizing that she hasn't eaten since last night, she sits down to take a break. She cups her hands and places them into the cool river that sits next to her. She takes a sip, but spits it out in shock after hearing a roar. Haley grabs her spear and ducks down by a nearby boulder. She peers out from the side of the boulder to see the bear hunting for fish in the river.

"It steals our fish and it's still hungry?" Haley asks herself. She chokes on her breath when she realizes she must've talked too loud. The bear picks up its ears and scans the area. Haley breathes short and shallow breaths so it doesn't hear her. The bear grunts and Haley holds the spear up to her chest, reminding herself of the reason she even came on this search for the bear.

"You're doing this for Leita, remember that." Haley tells herself in her mind.

After about 30 seconds of thinking, Haley growls softly and leaps out to attack the bear while it's off guard, but only jumps into empty air. She tumbles to the ground, looks around quickly, and then realizes that the bear has run away. She hears pebbles being kicked around and looks to see the bear running down a dirt path. Haley grabs her spear from the ground and chases after the bear, going as quickly as she can.

"There goes that brilliant plan." Haley mumbles to herself as she chases the bear. She goes fast enough that she soon catches up with the bear. She's not close enough to reach, but she is close enough to see it. Haley stays hot on its trail and soon finds herself at the top of the mountain, cornering the bear. The bear, running fast so it would lose her, almost falls off of the edge of the mountain top. It turns around with an angry grunt once it hears Haley's footsteps.

"This is for you, Leita!" Haley yells as she charges at the bear with her spear. The bear roars loudly as it runs over to Haley to attack. The two collide with the bear grabbing ahold of Haley's spear with its massive jaws. It swings the spear over its shoulder with Haley still hanging on. Both the spear and Haley fall to the ground, almost falling off of the edge. Haley's breath gets heavy in fear as she struggles to get her body away from the cliff. The bear begins charging again and she uses all of her strength to lift herself up, away from the cliff's edge. She's lucky enough dodge the bear. Unfortunately, the bear's able to halt to a stop before it can fall off of the cliff.

"I'm not losing to an animal!" Haley yells. She tumbles underneath of the bear and grabs her spear that was kicked by the bear's paw. The bear swipes at her and gets her right sleeve torn. Haley growls and jumps onto its back and tries choking the bear by pressing the wooden stick part of the spear tightly against its neck. It pushes Haley off and hits her. She's hit into a large stone and rubs her throbbing head. She shakes her head and quickly tries getting her blurry vision to clear up. She hears another roar from the bear and can feel the running movement of it from the vibrations of the ground. Her vision finally becomes clear and she looks to her right to find her spear again. The bottom of the spear has been broken off, but the sharp rock tip is still intact. She quickly grabs it points it in a 45 degree angle while still sitting down. She winces in fear and looks away waiting for the bear's impact. The only thing she feels is the bear toppling onto her after it roars loudly in pain. The bear had run right into the spear. The tip penetrated through its thick body and is now pointing out of the bear's back. Haley uses the strength she has to lift it up enough so she can crawl out from underneath it. She looks at it and breathes heavily. She's out of energy and she's shocked. She has now met her goal. She has killed the bear that wounded her friend.

Haley sits on her knees and looks to the ground. She breathes heavily as she tries to regain her breath. A single, quiet crack of thunder fills the air and dark, nearly black, thick storm clouds cover the once blue sky. Suddenly, Haley sees the reflection of blue lights emanating from the sky. She looks up to see glowing blue orbs floating down to her. The falling orbs are attached to blue, glowing, liquidy-looking strings, and they float around her for a moment. Haley looks at them with a great deal of curiosity. She looks up and sees a giant waterfall coming down from the sky. She grabs her spear and runs away from the splash zone of the downpour of water. She stands on a patch of rock that's raised up a few inches from the ground. She breathes heavy again in fear as she tries putting together what's happening. After a moment of realizing that this "waterfall" isn't dangerous, she picks up her spear and trudges through the water that has now covered most of the mountain top. She hesitates before taking the tip of her spear and poking the falling water. The moment the spear touches it, the whole thing explodes into a performance of dancing lights. Mixtures of red, orange, yellow, pink, and yellow-green light up the sky around the mountain. Haley falls backwards onto her butt in surprise. She covers her eyes as the spirit of a mammoth gets ready to step on her. She then removes her hands to see that the mammoth can't step on her since it's a spirit. She stands back up onto her feet and looks around her as the spirits of animals continue run around the mountain top. Her instincts tell her to pick up her spear. Every time a spirit gets too close, she points her spear at it as a defense. Suddenly, a giant eagle spirit swoops down in front of her and takes the form of a man.

"Sitka?" Haley gasps, half in shock, have in confusion. Sitka has a very disappointed look on his face. His gaze shifts towards the dead bear and Haley follows the gaze. They both watch as the spirits suck up the body so the bear can join the spirits. Haley turns back to where Sitka is standing to see that he's no longer there. She looks around frantically for him when she's suddenly lifted up into the air, dropping her spear onto the ground. Sitka has now changed back into an eagle and his now lifting Haley up with his talons by her shoulders. He lifts her high into the sky and his wings enclose her whole body. He wings form the shape of a bear head around her. The shape gives a soft roar and then begins to spin around Haley. Haley begins to spin with it and soon transforms into a bear with a mighty roar. She's lowered to the ground and she dizzily gets up onto all fours with a low growl. The spirits disappear just a strike of lightning flashes and a large crack of thunder fills the sky. It begins to rain. Haley shakes her head trying to get her vision to clear. She stands up onto her hind paws and gets startled by a very close lightning bolt that strikes the mountain top. She slips on the wet, rocky ground and falls backwards off of the mountain, and into the river below. She gets knocked out after her head hits off of a boulder. She's whisked away by the fast moving river and soon safely washes up onto the river bay.


End file.
